Monday, July 13, 2015

Fo(u)r Women: A New Project for Mosaic

by Samara with Gary Kupper

Samara

The dichotomy of being a woman and a dancer in the world of
Middle Eastern Dance has at times been
very complex. Especially today, there is
a cultural war within middle eastern society where woman are fighting to emerge
from the chains of religious intolerance.

Gary Kupper

Ihave always viewed
my career as a dancer to be complete freedom -- it is something I choose
to do and I am grateful to be in a free society that allows women the choice to
express themselves as they wish. In contrast, the horrible treatment and
subjugation of women throughout the world, especially in Middle Eastern
society, inspired my partner Gary Kupper and me to create the idea of Fo(u)r Women. We wanted to choose
examples of women throughout history from the Greater Middle East who overcame adversity
to contribute their gifts to the world.. The women we chose refute the notion
held by male-dominated religious doctrine that women should be invisible and
only function to serve men.

These Four Women, a poet/priestess (Enheduanna of Ancient
Sumer), a powerful ruler (Hatshepsut of
Ancient Egypt), an influential singer (Om Kalthoum of Egypt), and an
inspirational activist (Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan), come from different eras
in the Greater Middle East and span centuries from 2300 BC to the present day.

The first woman, Enheduanna, lived in Ancient Mesopotamia (now modern Iraq), was
the first non-anonymous author in recorded history. She wrote devotional poetry to the gods and
goddesses of her time. Her writing influenced writers of devotional verse
throughout history. She was a princess,
daughter of King Sargon the Great who created the first empire in the history
of the world.
excavations in Iraq. She was made a priestess and founded a temple in the city of Ur
which served to consolidate her father’s power in southern Mesopotamia. When a
rebellion took place, her temple was destroyed, she was raped and then sent into
exile with her followers. She overcame this humiliating defeat and rallied her
followers to take back the temple and reestablish her position and prominence.
It was only in the last fifty years that her amazing story came to light
through the archeological

Next we have a Queen
of Ancient Egypt who became a king. Hatshepsut was a female Pharaoh. A daughter
of King Thutmose I, she married her stepbrother Thutmose II and became a queen.

As was the custom, she became a ruler upon her husband’s death, until her stepson Thutmose III would come of
age. But instead, going against tradition, she declared herself a
Pharaoh and held on to that title well beyond the young king’s adulthood, and
lived out her natural days as a great Pharaoh. Hatshepesut was the fifth
Pharaoh of the eighteenth dynasty of Egypt and came to the throne in 1478 BC.
She is regarded by Egyptologists as one of the most successful pharaohs,
reigning longer than any other woman of an indigenous Egyptian dynasty.Hatshepsut promoted trade, opening borders closed by
years of war and accomplished many other innovative things during her reign.
Her legacy was erased upon her death by her stepson Thutmose III who himself
was to become one of Egypt’s greatest Pharaohs. But Hatshepsut had broken the
succession of males, and was punished by having her tomb and all her creations
destroyed. Her amazing contributions were found by archeologists years later
and her story became one of the most enduring stories of a woman of power in history.
Or herstory if you will.

We then jump ahead several thousand years to the 1950s in
Egypt, to Om Kalthoum, who was one of the greatest singers in the world and one
of the most revered women in the Middle East.

She overcame great obstacles of
religious and cultural boundaries to attain world renown as a magnificent
singer. Her father, who had a theater, recognized her talents early on. He had
to dress her up as a boy to make it acceptable for her to perform. She
eventually came into her own and became recognized by the great composers and
talent promoters in Egypt at the time. She eventually became so hugely popular
that Gamul Nasser, the president of Egypt of the time, would put her on the air
prior to his speeches to assure that all of Egypt would listen. She became
known as the heart and soul of Middle Eastern society and even influenced
western artists like Led Zepplin, Sting, Peter Gabriel, and many others. The fourth woman we chose, Malala
Yousafzai, was born in Mingora,

Pakistan in 1997. This brave young woman was shot in the head and
nearly killed in an assassination attempt by a Taliban gunman in 2012 because
she and her father were advocates of education for girls. She miraculously
survived and went on to become the voice for all girls and women in the world
to have the right to education and equality. She is the youngest-ever recipient
of the Nobel Peace Prize which she received for her courageous efforts, and
continues her work inspiring millions around the world.

By incorporating Middle Eastern and modern dance, original
music and the songs of Om Kalthoum and Pakistani Sufi singer Abida Parveen,
plus multi-media, photos and video, we
will show the significant contributions
by women to the development of thought and culture in the world. Fo(u)r
Women will make the statement that through their power and the gifts they
possess, women can shape and change the world for the better.

(Fo(u)r Women will premiere at Westminster Arts Center in Bloomfield, NJ, on December 12 & 13, 2015. It is directed by Gary Kupper, choreographed by Samara. Cast members: Samara, Morgiana Celeste Varricchio, Nina Brewton, Kendra Dushac, Mary Susan Sinclair-Kuenning, Anika Blodgett, and Dana Irwin.
This program is made possible in part
by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a
Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts and administered by the
Essex County Division of Cultural and Historic Affairs.
)